Neither more nor less

Back then one could live at Ray's : bring your own furniture , T.V. , musical instuments ,clothing and Ray sold you the beer , hot dogs ,chips , ice cream and cigarettes . You could wake-up with Ray's coffee , donuts and the New York Times or what ever paper that you liked .

On this night Wayne ,leaning over the arm of the sofa , had his own sofa and toy xylophone which in the picture he is playing .

Your T.V. could be plugged surreptitiously into Ray's sign lighting circuit or if that wasn't possible on a given night then it could be plugged into the base of the light post on the corner .

Friends visited with you , drank with you , sometimes hugging and sometimes trying to cut you or others with their knives .Occasionaly a fire-arm was brandished but I never saw anyone shoot anyone .Though perhaps not a good environment in which to raise children or entertain the precious , culturally sophisticated bourgeois types , it was more than satisfactory for many a homeless soul .